Bennett, Harold V.

Dr. Harold V. Bennett is professor and Martin Luther King, Jr. Endowed Chair in the Philsophy and Religion Department at Morehouse College.

Dr. Bennett previously served as dean of the C.H. Mason Seminary (part of the International Theological Seminary) has published books, commentaries, and several articles on issues in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies and Ethics. Some of these publications are the following: Injustice Made Legal (Eerdmans Publishing Company); ‘Triennial Tithes and the Underdog: A Revisionist Reading of Deut 14:22-29 and 26:12-15.” This article appears in Yet With A Steady Beat (Scholars’ Press); “Justice” which appears in the New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon Press); an article on Deuteronomy, which appears in the Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (Cambridge University Press); and a brief commentary on Deuteronomy, which appears in the Africana Bible Commentary (Fortress Press). He is also the author of “The Bible and Africentric Pentecostal Moral Decision-Making” (Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center Volume 44, Fall 2016/Spring 2017).

He has presented papers on Africentric Biblical Hermeneutics during the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and served as the program chair for the section on Biblical theology in the International Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Bennett has served as a co-coordinator of the Benjamin E. Mays Institute at Morehouse College and as a lecturer in the Black Women and Society Institute at the Interdenominational Theological Center.

Dr. Bennett has served the body of Christ in general and the Church of God in Christ in particular in a host of professional positions. He has served as a supply pastor for the United Methodist Church. He served as the senior content editor of the Sunday School Curriculum and as a writer of the Y.P.W.W. topics for the Church of God in Christ. He too has served as the secretary for the Central Georgia Jurisdiction Pastors and Elders Council. He is a member of the Standardized Ordination Committee and is a member of the Manual Review Committee of the Church of God in Christ. He is the ecumenical officer for the South Central Georgia Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ.

Dr. Bennett has served as a commentator/guest on Religion and Social Ethics on National Public Radio and on radio stations in Atlanta. He and his wife, Dr. Valerie Bennett, founded the Pentecost for Life Ministries, and Dr. Harold Bennett is the host of the Pentecost for Life Broadcast, an Africentric, Pentecostal spiritual teaching ministry, which is available through Social Media (pentecost4life.com) and airs on radio, Love 860 WAEC 860 AM, on Wednesdays from 2:30-3 PM EST. He too is the host of The GIST of the Matter with Dr. Bennett, an interactive radio talk show, which explores provocative issues in social ethics in the Black community from an Afrocentric perspective. The GIST of the Matter with Dr. Bennett airs on Sundays from 6-8pm EST on WAOK 1380 AM in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Harold Bennett is involved in the Society for Biblical Literature and the Society for Pentecostal Studies. He has presented papers on subjects in Religion and Theology in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Rome, Italy; Vienna, Austria; and in other places in Europe. He is a member of the group of religious thinkers and scholars who hosts the Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue of the United States, which meets in Minnesota each year. Dr. Bennett has been a commentator on religious topics on National Public Radio and on Religion, Pentecostalism, and the Black community in local newspapers. He was the Host for the Bread of Life Broadcast on WSMX 1500 AM radio (Winston-Salem, NC) and was a frequent guest commentator on Lifeline 2000 on WGUN 1010 AM radio (Stone Mountain, Ga).

Dr. Bennett has served as the program director for the Boys and Girls Club of Middle Tennessee and as a supply pastor for the United Methodist Church. Dr. Bennett is an Elder in the Church of God in Christ.